Substrate processing apparatus and maintenance method therefor

ABSTRACT

A substrate processing apparatus comprises a chamber. The chamber includes a container and an upper lid for closing an upper opening of the container. On the upper side of the chamber, an elevator for vertically moving the upper lid is disposed integrally with the chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatusequipped with a chamber for processing a substrate such as asemiconductor wafer, and a maintenance method therefor.

2. Related Background Art

An exposure apparatus utilizing en electron beam is equipped with avacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber comprises a container and an upperlid for covering an upper opening of the container. The upper lid isprovided with an irradiating part for emitting the electron beam,whereas an alignment mechanism for positioning a mask and a substrate isdisposed within the container (see, for example, Reference 1: HiroshiNOZUE and four others, “Development of next-generation electron-beamexposure systems”, OYO BUTURI, Vol.71, No.4, p.421-424 (2002)).

In such an exposure apparatus, large-scale maintenance has been carriedout in a state where a maintenance jig such as a jib crane or portalcrane is used so as to raise the upper lid and draw it to one side,thereby completely opening the upper opening of the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The maintenance utilizing such a maintenance jig requires a largemaintenance space and a commensurate space for keeping such amaintenance jig, which may increase the cost of ownership (COO). Also,it takes considerable time to install the jig for maintenance, whichelongates the processing stop period (downtime), thereby lowering theprocessing efficiency.

For solving the problems mentioned above, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a substrate processing apparatus which can reducethe cost of ownership and improve the substrate processing efficiency,and a maintenance method therefor.

A substrate processing apparatus of the present invention comprises: achamber having a container and a lid for closing an opening of thecontainer; and an elevator for moving the lid, disposed integrally withthe chamber.

In the substrate processing apparatus, since the elevator for moving thelid is disposed integrally with the chamber, the maintenance spacebecomes smaller than that conventionally needed, and no space isnecessary for keeping the elevator, whereby the cost of ownership is cutdown. Also, since the elevator is integrated with the chamber, the timeconventionally required for installing jigs for maintenance isunnecessary, which shortens the processing stop period (downtime), thusimproving the substrate processing efficiency.

The opening may be provided on top of the container. The elevator may bedisposed on an upper side of the chamber. In this configuration, themaintenance space becomes much smaller.

The elevator may have a first pole erected from the upper side of thecontainer so as to extend vertically; a driving source, attached to theupper lid, for outputting a predetermined turning force; and a powerconverting mechanism for converting the turning force outputted from thedriving source into a vertical force for vertically moving the upper lidalong the first pole. In this configuration, the turning force outputtedfrom the driving source is converted into a vertical force by the powerconverting mechanism, whereby the upper lid ascends/descends along thefirst pole.

The power converting mechanism may include a first tubular memberinserted onto the first pole and held by the upper lid so as to berotatable about the first pole, a first thread provided on an inner faceof the first tubular member, and a second thread provided on a surfaceof the first pole and adapted to engage the first thread. In this case,when rotated about the first tubular member, the first tubular memberascends/descends along the first pole because of the engagement betweenthe first and second threads, thereby vertically moving the upper lidholding the first tubular member.

The elevator may further has a second pole erected from the upper sideof the container so as to extend vertically; a second tubular memberinserted onto the second pole and held by the upper lid so as to berotatable about the second pole; a third thread provided on an innerface of the second tubular member; a fourth thread provided on a surfaceof the second pole and adapted to engage the third thread; and a powertransmitting mechanism, disposed between the first and second tubularmembers, for rotating the second tubular member in synchronization withthe first tubular member. In this configuration, the first tubularmember is rotated by the turning force from the driving source, and thisrotation is transmitted to the second tubular member by way of the powertransmitting mechanism, whereby the first and second tubular membersrotate in synchronization. Therefore, the first and second tubularmembers vertically ascend/descend at the same pace along the first andsecond poles because of the respective engagements between the first andsecond threads and between the third and fourth threads. As a result,the upper lid ascends/descends in a stable state.

The substrate processing apparatus may further comprise a tubular coverdetachably attached to the first pole so as to cover the surface of thefirst pole. This can protect the grease-coated surface of the firstpole. Also, when the lower part of the first pole, i.e., the part lowerthan the upper lid, is protected by the cover after the upper lid isascended, the cover can function as a support member, which prevents theupper lid from dropping out.

The chamber may has a substrate holding part for positioning and holdinga substrate, and an electron beam irradiating part for irradiating thesubstrate with an electron beam. The present invention is suitable forwriting apparatus and transfer apparatus using such an electron beam.

A maintenance method of the present invention for a substrate processingapparatus having a chamber including a container and an upper lid forclosing an upper opening of the container, the method comprising thestep of vertically raising the upper lid and carrying out maintenancewithin the container while the upper lid is held at a position separatedby a predetermined distance from above the container.

In this method, the maintenance within the container is carried outwhile in a state where the upper lid is raised and held at a positionseparated by a predetermined distance from above the container.Therefore, the space above the chamber is effectively utilized, so as toreduce the maintenance space, thereby cutting down the cost ofownership. Also, since the maintenance is started and terminated bysimply moving the upper lid up and down on the upper side of thecontainer, the processing stop period (downtime) can be shortened, whichimproves the substrate processing efficiency.

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings.They are given by way of illustration only, and thus should not beconsidered limitative of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an electronbeam exposure apparatus as the substrate processing apparatus inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a vacuumchamber;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state where a wafer stage is drawnfrom a door attached to a side wall of the vacuum chamber;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a state where guideposts areerected from a container (showing the state without an upper lid forconvenience of explanation);

FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of theupper lid;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a motor and a power converting mechanismwhich are disposed at a corner of the upper lid;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a power converting mechanism disposed atany of the other three corners of the upper lid;

FIG. 8 is a view showing the configuration of a cover for surroundingand protecting the surface of a guidepost (in an open state);

FIG. 9 is a view showing the configuration of a cover for surroundingand protecting the surface of a guidepost (in a closed state);

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the electron beam exposure apparatus ina state where the upper lid is located at the lowest position; and

FIG. 11 is a front view showing the electron beam exposure apparatus ina state where the upper lid is located at the highest position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be explainedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. In the explanation of thedrawings, constituents identical to each other will be referred to withnumerals identical to each other without repeating their overlappingdescriptions.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an electronbeam exposure apparatus (which may simply be referred to as “exposureapparatus” in the following) as the substrate processing apparatus inaccordance with an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, this exposureapparatus 10 comprises a vacuum chamber 12 and an elevator 14.

The vacuum chamber 12 comprises a container 16 having an open upper end,and an upper lid 18 for closing the upper opening of the container 16.

The upper lid 18 has a rectangular horizontal cross section, whereas anelectron beam irradiating part 20 for emitting an electron beam isdisposed at the center thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the electron beamirradiating part 20 comprises an electronic lens barrel 22 including anupper wall part and a side wall part, an electron gun 24 attached to theupper wall part in the electronic lens barrel 22, a lens 26 forcollimating the electron beam emitted from the electron gun 24, anddeflectors 28. The electron gun 24, lens 26, and deflectors 28 aredisposed in this order from the upper side to the lower side in thevertical direction, so that the electron beam emitted from the electrongun 24 is collimated by the lens 26 and is scanned by the deflectors 28so as to illuminate a semiconductor wafer W from thereabove.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container 16 comprises a bottom wall part16 a having a rectangular horizontal cross section and two sets of sidewall parts 16 b erected from edges of the bottom wall part 16 a.Accommodated in the container 16 is a wafer stage (substrate holdingpart) 30 for holding the semiconductor wafer W to be exposed to theelectron beam. The wafer stage 30 comprises a positioning stage 32 forpositioning the semiconductor wafer W; and an electrostatic chuck 34,mounted on the positioning stage 32, for attracting and holding thesemiconductor wafer W. The positioning stage 32 includes a roughlymovable stage for rough positioning in two axial directions (XYdirections) orthogonal to each other within a horizontal plane; and afinely movable stage, mounted on the roughly movable stage, for fineadjustment in the XY directions, the vertical direction (Z direction)orthogonal to the XY directions, the rotational direction (θ direction)within the horizontal plane, and the inclination. The electrostaticchuck 34 is mounted on the finely movable stage. Therefore, thesemiconductor wafer W is positioned by the positioning stage 32 while ina state attracted to the electrostatic chuck 34.

As shown in FIG. 2, the container 16 accommodates a mask stage 36 forpositioning and holding a mask M formed with a desirable pattern. Themask stage 36 carries out fine positioning in the rotational direction(θ direction) within the horizontal plane, the vertical direction (Zdirection), and the inclination. The mask stage 36 is mounted on areference base 35 fixed within the vacuum chamber 12.

Also disposed within the container 16 is a photodetector 37 such as awhite light microscope, which irradiates the mask M and semiconductorwafer W with light and detects light scattered by undepicted alignmentmarks. The photodetector 37 is mounted on the reference base 35. Datadetected by the photodetector 37 is sent to an undepicted imageprocessor and processed therein, whereby the positional relationshipbetween the mask M and semiconductor wafer W is determined from theoverlapping of alignment marks. When there is a positional deviationbetween the mask M and semiconductor wafer W, a signal for correctingthe position of the mask M and/or semiconductor wafer W is generated,and the position of the mask M and/or semiconductor wafer W is minutelycorrected according to this signal. As such, the mask M andsemiconductor wafer W are positioned with respect to each otherprecisely. In this embodiment, the mask M is arranged near thesemiconductor wafer W (with a gap of about 50 μm therebetween).

The pressure within the vacuum chamber 12 is reduced by an undepictedvacuum pump. Under thus reduced pressure, the whole surface of the maskM is scanned with the electron beam emitted from the electron beamirradiating part 20, whereby the desirable pattern is transferred to aresist on the semiconductor wafer W at 1:1 magnification.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vacuum chamber 12 is mounted on avibration isolator 38 disposed under the bottom wall part 16 a. Also, asshown in FIG. 3, the right wall part of the vacuum chamber 12 isprovided with a door 40 which is adapted to open and close. Therefore,the maintenance of the wafer stage 30 can be performed by opening thedoor 40 and horizontally sliding out the wafer stage 30.

The elevator 14 is disposed integrally with the vacuum chamber 12 on theupper side thereof. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing theconfiguration of the vacuum chamber 12 in a state free of the upper lid18. As shown in FIG. 4, the elevator 14 includes four verticallyextending guideposts 42. As shown in FIG. 4, the guideposts 42 areerected from two pairs of flanges 44 respectively disposed at upperedges of the front and rear wall parts. Connection ribs 46 horizontallyconnect the upper ends of the guideposts 42, thereby enhancing therigidity of the guideposts 42.

The elevator 14 also includes four power converting mechanisms 50 forconverting the turning force supplied from a motor (driving source) 48,which will be explained later, into a vertical force for verticallymoving the upper lid 18 along the guideposts 42. As shown in FIGS. 1 and5, the power converting mechanisms 50 are disposed at four corners ofthe upper lid 18 so as to correspond to the positions where theguideposts 42 are erected from the container 16.

The elevator 14 further includes the motor 48 outputting a predeterminedturning force. The motor 48 is integrally provided with the upper lid 18at a location where one power converting mechanism 50 is disposed. Anair motor is preferable as the motor 48 since usual motor comprisesmagnet and magnetic field formed by the magnet may affect the electronbeam.

FIG. 6 is a partly sectional view for explaining in detail theconfiguration of the motor 48 and the power converting mechanism 50 at alocation where the motor 48 is disposed. The motor 48 is arranged suchthat its output shaft 52 is orthogonal to the vertical direction. Thepower converting mechanism 50 comprises a tubular member (first tubularmember) 54. The tubular member 54 includes a rotary tube 56 and a sleeve58 disposed about the outer peripheral face of the rotary tube 56 so asto be rotatable integrally therewith. The tubular member 54 is insertedonto the guidepost (first pole) 42 and is held by the upper lid 18 so asto be rotatable about the guidepost 42. The inner face of the rotarytube 56 in the tubular member 54 is provided with a thread (firstthread) 57. On the other hand, the surface of the guidepost 42 isprovided with a thread (second thread) 60 adapted to engage the thread57 of the rotary tube 56. Therefore, when the tubular member 54 rotatesabout the guidepost 42, the tubular member 54 can ascend and descendalong the guidepost 42 because of the engagement between the threads 57and 60. A bearing 62 is provided between the sleeve 58 of the tubularmember 54 and the upper lid 18, whereas the tubular member 54 is held bythe upper lid 18 while in a state rotatable about the guidepost 42 byway of the bearing 62.

A bevel gear 64 is secured to the outer peripheral face of the sleeve 58in the tubular member 54. The output shaft 52 of the motor 48 isprovided with a bevel gear 66 adapted to engage the bevel gear 64attached to the sleeve 58. Therefore, as the output shaft 52 of themotor 48 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 6, the rotationalmovement of the output shaft 52 is converted into a rotational movementof the tubular member 54 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 6 about theguidepost 42. The tubular member 54 rotates about the guidepost 42,thereby ascending along the guidepost 42 because of the engagementbetween the threads 57 and 60. Here, since the tubular member 54 is heldwith the upper lid 18 by way of the bearing 62, the upper lid 18 movesup along the guidepost 42 when the tubular member 54 ascends along theguidepost 42.

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional view for explaining in detail theconfiguration of the power converting mechanism 50 at a location notprovided with the motor 48. This power converting mechanism 50 comprisesa tubular member (second tubular member) 68. The tubular member 68includes a rotary tube 70 and a sleeve 72 disposed about the outerperipheral face of the rotary tube 70 so as to be rotatable integrallytherewith. The tubular member 68 is inserted onto the guidepost (secondpole) 42 and is held by the upper lid 18 so as to be rotatable about theguidepost 42. The inner face of the rotary tube 70 in the tubular member68 is provided with a thread (third thread) 73. On the other hand, thesurface of the guidepost 42 is provided with a thread (fourth thread) 74adapted to engage the thread 73 of the rotary tube 70. Therefore, whenthe tubular member 68 rotates about the guidepost 42, the tubular member68 can ascend and descend along the guidepost 42 because of theengagement between the threads 73 and 74. A bearing 76 is providedbetween the sleeve 72 of the tubular member 68 and the upper lid 18,whereas the tubular member 68 is held by the upper lid 18 while in astate rotatable about the guidepost 42 by way of the bearing 76.

Here, between the tubular member 54 of the power converting mechanism 50at the location provided with the motor 48 and the tubular member 68 ofthe power converting mechanism 50 at the location not provided with themotor 48, a power transmitting mechanism 78 for transmitting the turningforce of the motor 48 is disposed as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The powertransmitting mechanism 78 includes pulleys 80 disposed on the upperouter peripheral faces of the sleeves 58, 72 in the tubular members 54,68, respectively, and a timing belt 82 horizontally surrounding thepulleys 80. The timing belt 82 includes a plurality of protrusions 82 awhich are disposed at predetermined intervals on the inner face thereofand engage their corresponding pulleys 80. Therefore, when the motor 48is driven so as to rotate the tubular member 54 at the location providedwith the motor 48, this rotation is transmitted by way of the timingbelt 82 to the tubular members 68 at the locations not provided with themotor 48, whereby the tubular members 54, 68 rotate in synchronizationwith each other and vertically move along the guideposts 42. As aconsequence, the upper lid 18 ascends/descends along the guideposts 42while in a stable state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure apparatus 10 in accordance with thisembodiment comprises tubular covers 90 surrounding the respectivesurfaces of the guideposts 42. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each cover 90is a tubular member whose length is substantially the same as that ofeach guidepost 42, and is longitudinally split into two parts 90 a, 90b. These two parts 90 a, 90 b are linked by a hinge 92 so as to be ableto open and close, whereas the surfaces to be opened and closed areprovided with latches 94 for locking. Side faces of the two parts 90 a,90 b are provided with handles 96 for making it easier to open and closethe cover 90. As shown in FIG. 1, the covers 90 are detachably attachedto their corresponding guideposts 42 in a state where the upper lid 18is located at the lowest position and closes the vacuum chamber 12. Thiscan prevent the grease applied to the surfaces of the guideposts 42 fromadhering to human bodies during the maintenance.

In general, retractable covers in the form of bellows or the like haveconventionally been used for protecting the grease applied to thethreads 60, 74 of the guideposts 42 or preventing the grease fromadhering to the others (e.g., human bodies). However, they need a covermargin which can take up about ⅓ to ½ of the movable stroke, and thusmay be problematic in terms of space. By contrast, this embodiment needsno cover margin at all, thereby allowing the upper lid 18 to attain alarge ascending/descending stroke.

Operations and effects of thus configured exposure apparatus 10 and itsmaintenance method will now be explained.

At the time of exposure, the upper lid 18 of the vacuum chamber 12 islocated at its lowest position and closes the upper opening of thecontainer 16 as shown in FIG. 10. The respective surfaces of the fourguideposts 42 are surrounded and protected by their corresponding covers90. In this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor wafer W is fedinto the container 16 and is attracted to the electrostatic chuck 34, soas to be positioned by the positioning stage 32. Also, the mask M is fedinto the container 16, and is positioned by the mask stage 36. As aconsequence, the mask M and the semiconductor wafer W are positioned ina state close to each other.

Then, the electron beam emitted from the electron gun 24 of the electronbeam irradiating part 20 is collimated by the lens 26, and the wholesurface of the mask M is scanned with the collimated electron beam bythe deflectors 28. This transfers a desirable mask pattern to a resiston the semiconductor wafer W at 1:1 magnification.

The foregoing steps are repeated, so as to perform a predeterminednumber of exposure processes. Maintenance is carried out periodically orupon accidental troubles. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the upper lid 18 ofthe vacuum chamber 12 is raised, so as to open the upper opening of thecontainer 16 for maintenance. There is also a case where the door 40attached to the right wall part of the vacuum chamber 12 is opened asshown in FIG. 3, so as to draw out the wafer stage 30 for maintenance.

First, for raising the upper lid 18, the covers 90 surrounding thesurfaces of the four guideposts 42 are removed. Subsequently, as shownin FIG. 6, the motor 48 is driven so as to rotate the output shaft 52 inthe direction of arrow A. Then, by way of the bevel gears 66, 64, therotational movement of the output shaft 52 is converted into arotational movement of the tubular member 54 in the direction of arrow Babout the guidepost 42. The tubular member 54 rotates about theguidepost 42, thereby ascending along the guidepost 42 because of theengagement between the threads 57 and 60. Here, since the tubular member54 is held with the upper lid 18 by way of the bearing 62, the upper lid18 moves up along the guidepost 42 when the tubular member 54 ascendsalong the guidepost 42.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotation of the tubular member 54 at thelocation provided with the motor 48 is transmitted by way of the timingbelt 82 and pulleys 80 to the tubular members 68 at the locations notprovided with the motor 48. Namely, as the tubular member 54 at thelocation provided with the motor 48 rotates in the direction of arrow Bin FIG. 6, the timing belt 82 rotates in the direction of arrow C inFIGS. 6 and 7. Hence, as shown in FIG. 7, each of the tubular members 68at the locations not provided with the motor 48 rotates in the directionof arrow D about its corresponding guidepost 42, thereby ascending alongthe guidepost 42 because of the engagement between the threads 73, 74.Since the tubular member 68 is held with the upper lid 18 by way of thebearing 76, the upper lid 18 moves up along the guidepost 42 as thetubular member 68 ascends along the guidepost 42. Here, the rotation ofthe tubular member 54 at the location provided with the motor 48 and therotations of the tubular members 68 at the locations not provided withthe motor 48 are in synchronization with each other by way of the timingbelt 82 and pulleys 80, whereby all the tubular members 54, 68 ascend atthe same pace. Therefore, the upper lid 18 moves up in a stable statewithout tilting.

The motor 48 is stopped when the upper lid 18 reaches the upper ends ofthe guideposts 42 as shown in FIG. 11. Preferably, the highest positionof the upper lid 18 is adjusted so as to be higher than its lowestposition by a little less than 1 m. Then, the removed covers 90 areattached to the respective guideposts 42 again. As a consequence, whenthe upper lid 18 is located at the highest position, the covers 90function as support members, which can prevent the upper lid 18 fromaccidentally dropping out. When providing the covers 90 with a functionof a support member, the covers 90 are required to have a high strengthand thus are preferably formed from a material such as stainless steelor a steel sheet. In the state where the upper lid 18 is located at thehighest position as such, the maintenance for the alignment stageincluding the mask stage 36 and photodetector 37 in the container 16,the electron beam irradiating part 20, and the like is carried out.

After the maintenance is completed, the covers 90 are removed from theircorresponding guideposts 42, and the motor 48 is rotated in a directionopposite from that at the time of raising the upper lid 18, so as tolower the upper lid 18. When the upper lid 18 reaches the lowestposition, the motor 48 is stopped. Then, the covers 90 are attached totheir corresponding guideposts 42.

In the exposure apparatus 10 in accordance with this embodiment, asexplained in the foregoing, the elevator 14 for vertically moving theupper lid 18 is disposed on the upper side of the vacuum chamber 12,whereby the maintenance space becomes smaller than that conventionallyrequired, and no space is required for keeping the elevator 14.Therefore, the footprint of the exposure apparatus 10 can be utilizedefficiently, so that the cost of ownership can be cut down. Since theelevator 14 is provided integrally with the vacuum chamber 12, the timerequired for installing jigs, which has conventionally been needed formaintenance, becomes unnecessary, whereby the processing stop period(downtime) can be shortened, which improves the substrate processingefficiency.

Without being restricted to the above-mentioned embodiment, the presentinvention can be modified in various manners. For example, though themotor 48 is arranged such that the output shaft 52 is orthogonal to thevertical direction in the above-mentioned embodiment, the output shaft52 may extend along the vertical direction. In the latter case, spurgears are preferably used in place of the bevel gears 64, 66 fortransmitting power.

Though the above-mentioned embodiment relates to an embodiment of theelectron beam exposure apparatus 10 as the substrate processingapparatus, the present invention is also applicable to electron beamwriting apparatus which directly write on a substrate without the aid ofa mask.

Also, the present invention is applicable to film-forming apparatus(e.g., CVD apparatus and PVD apparatus) and etching apparatus equippedwith the vacuum chamber 12.

Further, the present invention is applicable not only to apparatus forprocessing the semiconductor wafer W, but also to apparatus for makingliquid crystal panels, which form films such as ITO films on glasssubstrates, etc. when forming liquid crystal panels.

From the foregoing explanations of the invention, it will be obviousthat the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, andall such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art areintended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a chamber having acontainer and an upper lid for closing an opening of the container,wherein the upper lid includes an electron beam irradiating partdisposed in a center thereof; and an elevator for moving the upper lid,disposed integrally with the chamber; wherein the elevator includes adriving source mounted on and moving together with the upper lid, andwherein a turning force from the driving source is converted into avertical force to move the upper lid.
 2. A substrate processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening is provided on topof the container; and wherein the elevator is disposed between the upperlid and the container.
 3. A substrate processing apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the elevator has: a first pole erected from an upperpart of the container so as to extend vertically; and a power convertingmechanism for converting the driving force outputted from the drivingsource into a vertical force for vertically moving the upper lid alongthe first pole.
 4. A substrate processing apparatus according to claim3, wherein the power converting mechanism includes: a first tubularmember inserted onto the first pole and held by the upper lid so as tobe rotatable about the first pole; a first thread provided on an innerface of the first tubular member; and a second thread provided on asurface of the first pole and adapted to engage the first thread.
 5. Asubstrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein theelevator further has: a second pole erected from the upper part of thecontainer so as to extend vertically; a second tubular member insertedonto the second pole and held by the upper lid so as to be rotatableabout the second pole; a third thread provided on an inner face of thesecond tubular member; a fourth thread provided on a surface of thesecond pole and adapted to engage the third thread; and a powertransmitting mechanism, disposed between the first and second tubularmembers, for rotating the second tubular member in synchronization withthe first tubular member.
 6. A substrate processing apparatus accordingto claim 3, further comprising a tubular cover detachably attached tothe first pole so as to cover the surface of the first pole.
 7. Asubstrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chamberfurther comprises a substrate holding part for positioning and holding asubstrate and wherein the electron beam irradiating part irradiates thesubstrate with an electron beam.
 8. A substrate processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the driving source includes a motor.
 9. Asubstrate processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the powertransmitting mechanism includes a timing belt.
 10. A substrateprocessing apparatus comprising: a chamber having a container and anupper lid for closing an opening of the container; a first threaded poleerected from an upper part of the container so as to extend vertically;a first tubular member inserted onto and threadably engaged with thefirst threaded pole; and a motor, mounted on and moving together withthe upper lid, for rotating the first tubular member about the firstthreaded pole, wherein the first tubular member is held by the upper lidso as to be rotatable about the first threaded pole and the upper lidmoves vertically along the first threaded pole when the motor rotatesthe first tubular member about the first threaded pole.
 11. A substrateprocessing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a secondthreaded pole erected from an upper part of the container so as toextend vertically; a second tubular member inserted onto and threadablyengaged with the second threaded pole; and a timing belt disposedbetween the first and second tubular members, for rotating the secondtubular member in synchronization with the first tubular member; whereinthe second tubular member is held by the upper lid so as to be rotatableabout the second threaded pole and the upper lid moves vertically alongthe first and second threaded poles when the motor rotates the firsttubular member about the first threaded pole and the timing belt rotatesthe second tubular member about the second threaded pole.